Method and system for call tracing

ABSTRACT

The present invention is drawn to a call trace system and method that is simple to establish in a short amount of time. The call trace is implemented through a Web browser page which remotely programs central offices to trace calls to particular number. When a trace is established a message is sent back to the Web browser which displays the calling number, the called number and the central office detecting the call. Also, a page is sent to a pager which displays the traced information.

APPENDIX

[0001] Attached hereto is a Source Code Appendix which consists of pagesA-1 through A-46.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and system for calltracing, and, more particularly, to an automated method and system forquickly and simply establishing and removing a trace on a telephoneline.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Known methods and systems for establishing a trace on anidentified telephone number have, in general, been cumbersome andtime-consuming thereby, often wasting valuable time in a situation wheretime is of the essence. More particularly, some known methods andsystems for establishing a trace require manually programming centraloffice switches in a geographic area. For example, if a trace is to beestablished for calls originating in the Chicago area, such a tasktypically requires three persons about three hours each to manuallyperform the task. This wastes precious time in a situation, such as akidnapping, where time can not be wasted. In addition, as with anysystem that requires manual programming, errors may be made which wouldcompromise the trace and lead to valuable information being lost.

[0004] Other known call tracing methods and systems require that anincoming call actually be answered and that the answering party initiatethe trace. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,1591,665 (Foster et al.)disclose a method of providing customer originated call tracing. If acustomer receives an obscene or nuisance call, for example, the customerenters a code indicating that such a call has been received. Theidentity of the calling party is identified to authorities in responseto the action by the customer. Such a system has obvious drawbacksincluding the potential for abuse by a called party. Such abuse wouldwaste valuable time on the part of the authorities and detractauthorities from where their resources are most needed. Other systemsuse a caller identification type of tracing commonly referred to ascaller i.d. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,475 (Pintos et al.) discloses a callingline tracing system and identification detector which identifies of acalling party without the called party ever lifting the telephonereceiver. Other systems forward an incoming call to a called party'spager including caller i.d.-type information. See, for example, U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,644,626 (Carlsen et al.); 5,692,038 (Kraus et al.) and5,694,453 (Fuller et al.). A drawback with such caller i.d. type devicesis that the calling party may block the identification of the callingnumber typically by entering a code using the keypad of a phone before acall is made.

[0005] It is thus desirable to provide a call tracing method and systemthat is simple to implement, significantly reduces the time for itsimplementation, and provides accurate information in less time thanknown call tracing methods and systems. It is also desirable to providea call tracing method and system that can cancel an implemented calltrace quickly. It is also desirable to provide an automated call tracingmethod and system that can be automatically implemented and canceled ata site remote from the switches of central offices thereby eliminatingdirect manual programming of the switches at the central offices. It isalso desirable to provide a call tracing method and system that does notrequire any action by the called party.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided amethod for tracing a call. The method includes the steps of:

[0007] (a) displaying a log-on screen on a display device, the logonscreen having a plurality of fields requiring input data including atelephone number field;

[0008] (b) inputting a telephone number in the telephone number fieldwherein the telephone number represents the number to be traced;

[0009] (c) establishing a call trace in a plurality of central offices;

[0010] (d) displaying a confirmation screen on the display device, theconfirmation screen indicating whether the trace was successfullyestablished or not in each of the plurality of central offices; and

[0011] (e) indicating that a call has been made to the telephone numberinput in step (b).

[0012] According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided amethod for tracing a call. The method includes the steps of:

[0013] (a) simultaneously designating at least one telephone number tobe traced in a plurality of central offices;

[0014] (b) monitoring incoming calls at said plurality of centraloffices;

[0015] (c) determining when an incoming call at one of said plurality ofcentral offices matches the at least one telephone number designated instep (a); and

[0016] (d) if it is determined in step (c) that an incoming call at oneof said plurality of central offices matches the at least one telephonenumber designated in step (a), then indicating that a match hasoccurred.

[0017] According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided asystem for tracing calls. The system includes:

[0018] a processor;

[0019] a plurality of central offices coupled to the processor forsending messages to the processor and receiving messages from theprocessor;

[0020] wherein the processor is programmed to run the following calltracing routine;

[0021] receiving a message identifying a telephone number to be traced;

[0022] transmitting a command to the plurality of central offices toestablish a trace on the identified telephone number;

[0023] transmitting a trace found message to a display device when anyone of the plurality of central offices detects that the identifiedtelephone number has been called.

[0024] According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided acall trace process performed by a computer network. The process includesthe steps of:

[0025] a first party identifying a telephone number to be traced;

[0026] the first party sending a call trace activation message to thecomputer network authorizing the activation of a call trace, the messagealso including the telephone number to be traced;

[0027] the computer network sending a call trace activator message to acentral office coupled to the computer network;

[0028] the central office sending a call trace found message to thecomputer network whenever an incoming call is matched to the telephonenumber to be traced;

[0029] the computer network sending a call trace information message tothe first party wherein the call trace information message includes anidentification of the telephone number of the incoming call.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0030]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the various interfacingequipment of a preferred embodiment of the call tracing method andsystem of the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the control office.

[0032]FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the command and message flow patternbetween the control office and the public switched telephone network.

[0033] FIGS. 5-7 illustrate various screens that appears on a displaydevice.

[0034]FIGS. 8 and 9 are flow charts of the call trace program accordingto preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Presently Preferred Embodiments

[0035]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the various interfacingequipment of a preferred embodiment of the call tracing system andmethod of the present invention. The present invention is implemented ina preexisting telephone infrastructure. The infrastructure includes apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) 10; and telephones 14, 16, 18located at various geographic locations such as a home, office orpayphone stand, respectively, coupled to the PSTN 10 so that they maycommunicate with one another as is well known in the art. The PSTN 10includes central offices scattered at various geographic locations aswell as other equipment which is well known to those of ordinary skillin the art. The central offices are categorized according to thetelephone technology employed in the central offices. For example,central office 22 may be an EWSD type central office, central office 26may be a DMS100 type central office and central office 28 may be a 5ESStype central office. Although one block is illustrated in FIG. 1 foreach type of central office there of course would be a plurality of suchoffices scattered at various geographic location as is well known tothose of ordinary skill in the art.

[0036] A control office 20 is also coupled to the PSTN 10. The controloffice 20 includes a processor 30 and a display unit 32 coupled thereto.As will be described in detail hereinafter, in this preferred embodimentit is in the control office 20 that a method for automated call tracingis implemented. The processor 30 sends messages to and receives messagesfrom the central offices 22, 24, 26, 28 as will be described in detailhereinafter. In general, the processor 30 runs a call trace programwhich programs switches (not shown) in the central offices to monitorcalls made to an identified number. Each central office returns amessage to the processor 30 indicating whether the trace wassuccessfully placed. When a call is made to the traced number, thecentral office which handles the call sends a message to the processor30 indicating that a trace was made which includes preferably the numberfrom which the call was placed and the central office which detected thecall as well as the traced number.

[0037]FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the control office 20. In apreferred embodiment the processor 30 includes a Web browser 34, anobject server 36 and a network monitoring and analysis system (“NMAsystem”) 38. The Web browser 34 operates in an object-oriented languagesuch as Pearl while the NMA system 38 operates in transactional languagesuch as transactional language 1 (TL1) protocol. The object server 36provides compatibility between the Web browser 34 and the NMA system 38and preferably operates in an object-oriented language such as HTML orPearl. In a preferred embodiment the processor 30 includes a Unixplatform housing the Web browser 34 and object server 36 and a Stratuscomputer on which an application (“NMA application”) implementing theNMA system is loaded. The NMA application is available from Bellcore ofNew Jersey.

[0038] A call trace is preferably initiated through a Web browser page.FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the command and message flow pattern betweenthe control office 20 and the PSTN 10. FIG. 3 represents the Unixplatform side of the process which implements the Web browser and objectserver and FIG. 4 represents the Stratus computer side of the processwhich implements the NMA system. Beginning with FIG. 3 at block 39 aninitial Web page is displayed on the display unit 32. FIG. 5 illustratesthe initial Web page in the form of a log-on screen 40 that appears onthe display device 32. The log-on screen 40 preferably includes aplurality of fields that either require input from the user or displayoutput. For example, the input fields include a telephone number field42 that requires the user to input the telephone number on which a traceis to be placed. In addition there is a geographic location field 44which, in the preferred embodiment illustrated, indicates a choice offive states. Of course more or less states may be listed. In thegeographic location field 44 the user selects which geographic area isto be monitored for incoming calls made to the traced phone number. Forexample, it may be desired to monitor calls made in Illinois to thetraced number. The user may select one geographic area, a plurality ofgeographic areas or all of them depending on the desired scope ofsurveillance. A login field 46 and password field 48 may be provided.Once all of the required information is input by the user and the useris satisfied with the input values selected, the user clicks on a submitbutton 40 to begin the implementation of a call trace. A reset button 42allows the user to clear the logon screen and re-input data. Once theuser submits the information on the log-on screen a new confirmationscreen appears as indicated at block 41 of FIG. 3. FIG. 6 illustratesthe confirmation screen 58. The confirmation screen 58 lists the numberto be traced at line 60 and the geographic area where the trace will beplaced at line 62. The user has the option at the confirmation screen 58to either activate the call trace or cancel it. If the user clicks onthe correct button 46, the call trace is activated.

[0039] Returning to FIG. 3, the NMA system is continuously running aprogram called file_checker which gathers information entered in the logon and confirmation screens and sends that information to the NMA systemas indicated at block 43. Referring to FIG. 4 at block 45 the NMA systemruns a call trace program. At block 45 separate messages are created foreach type of central office. For example, a DMS100 Trace Process Tracemessage 47 is sent to every DMS 100 central office in the geographicarea selected. A EWSD Trace Process Trace message 49 is sent to everyEWSD central office in the geographic area selected. A 1AESS TraceProcess Trace message 51 is sent to every 1AESS control office in thegeographic area selected. A 5ESS Trace Process Trace message 53 is sentto every 5ESS control office in the geographic area selected. Each ofthe central offices contacted returns a message 55, 57, 59 and 61respectively to the Web server at block 63 indicating whether the tracewas successful or not. The information is automatically displayed on thedisplay unit at block 65. FIG. 7 illustrates a display screen of thereturned information 100. It can be seen at lines 102 that a call tracewas successfully implemented in a particular central office. At lines104 it is indicated that a call trace was not successfully established.Different switch types may have different reasons for failing. Forexample, in the 1AESS central offices the 1A switch types must enter thenumber twice due to a problem in determining if the number is local orlong distance. The number in the 1A case must be preceded with a 0 or 2depending if it is local or long distance. The program according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention returns the results ofboth attempts. In the case of 5ESS central offices and the 5E switchesthe program needs to determine if the NPA of the 5ESS central office isthe same as the NPA of the trace number and if a 7 digit number isentered into the switch. The DMS100 central office and DMS switchesrequire a login and password and may fail this step in the process.

[0040] With the trace now in place, the central offices monitor forincoming calls made to the number placed on trace. Messages areautomatically collected at the central offices, and when the tracednumber is called, an output message 63, 65, 67 or 69 depending on whichcentral office detected the incoming call is passed to a trace foundprogram. The trace found program reformats the message and sends theinformation to a Sfax program which generates an alphanumeric page to asecurity pager 71 in the following format. “Trace found number called### ### #### number called ### ### #### from XXXXXXXXXX central office.”

[0041] The pager 71 displays the message on a display screen 73 of thepager 71. The message 63, 65, 67 or 69 generated by the central officeis also sent back to the Web server at block 62. The initial logonscreen 40 is displayed on the display unit 32 once the call trace isactivated. At line 54 it is indicated how many incoming calls have beenlinked to the traced number. The user clicks on line 56 to display theactual message generated by a central office. This process is repeatedevery time the traced number is called and a file containing the traceinformation is augmented with the additional messages regarding callsmade to the traced number. It was found through testing that it tookapproximately 1 minute to complete the page from the time the tracedphone began to ring. This time will vary and depends mostly on thepaging company used. It was found that it takes about 5 minutes tosuccessfully implement a trace, i.e., program the central offices. Ifthe particularities of some of the central offices were eliminated, suchas the need for entering a number twice for 1AESS switches the time toimplement a trace could possibly be shortened to about 1.5 minutes.

[0042] In a preferred embodiment all the calls to the traced number arealso logged with time stamps as well as sent downstream to a MACS systemand may be obtained through normal tracing channels.

[0043] To cancel a call trace the user simply enters the number on whichthe trace was placed in line 42 of screen 40 with a “can” prefixattached to the traced number. A confirmation page similar to that shownin FIG. 6 is again returned from the central offices and displayedindicating whether the trace was successfully canceled or not.

[0044]FIGS. 8 and 9 are flow charts of the call trace program accordingto preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0045] It is to be understood that the forms of the invention describedherein are to be taken as preferred examples and that various changes inthe shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for tracing a call, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) displaying a log-on screen on a displaydevice, the log-on screen having a plurality of fields requiring inputdata including a telephone number field; (b) inputting a telephonenumber in the telephone number field wherein the telephone numberrepresents the number to be traced; (c) establishing a call trace in aplurality of central offices; (d) displaying a confirmation screen onthe display device, the confirmation screen indicating whether the tracewas successfully established or not in each of the plurality of centraloffices; and (e) indicating that a call has been made to the telephonenumber input in step (b).
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein step(e) comprises the steps of paging a paging device when a call has beenmade to the telephone number input in step (b) and displaying thecalling number on the paging device.
 3. A method according to claim 1wherein step (e) comprises the step of displaying the calling number onthe display device.
 4. A method according to claim 2 further comprisingthe step of displaying the calling number on the display device.
 5. Amethod according to claim 2 further comprising the step of displayingthe called number on the paging device.
 6. A method according to claim 2further comprising the step of indicating which one of the plurality ofcentral offices handled the calling number.
 7. A method according toclaim 1 wherein step (c) is simultaneously performed.
 8. A method fortracing a call, the method comprising the steps of: (a) simultaneouslydesignating at least one telephone number to be traced in a plurality ofcentral offices; (b) monitoring incoming calls at said plurality ofcentral offices; (c) determining when an incoming call at one of saidplurality of central offices matches the at least one telephone numberdesignated in step (a); and (d) if it is determined in step (c) that anincoming call at one of said plurality of central offices matches the atleast one telephone number designated in step (a), then indicating thata match has occurred.
 9. The method according to claim 8 wherein step(a) comprises: (i) display a log-on screen on a display device, thelog-on screen having a plurality of fields requiring input including atelephone number field; (ii) inputting a telephone number in thetelephone number field wherein the telephone number represents thenumber to be traced; (iii) transmitting the telephone number input instep (i) to the plurality of central offices.
 10. The method accordingto claim 8 wherein step (d) comprises paging a pager and displaying theincoming call on the pager.
 11. The method according to claim 9 whereinstep (d) comprises displaying the incoming call on the display device.12. The method according to claim 9 wherein step (d) comprisesdisplaying the incoming call substantially simultaneously on a screen ofa pager and on the display device.
 13. The method according to claim 8further comprising the step displaying a confirmation screen on adisplay device the confirmation screen indicating whether the trace wassuccessfully established or not in each of the plurality of centraloffices.
 14. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the stepof (f) canceling the call trace in each of the plurality of centraloffices.
 15. The method according to claim 14 wherein step (c) comprisesdisplaying the log-on screen on the display device and inputting thetelephone number previously entered in step (b) prefixed by apredetermined code which indicates the trace is to be canceled.
 16. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the log-on screen includesgeographic information fields and the method further comprises the stepof selecting desired geographic fields in which the tracing should becarried out.
 17. A system for tracing calls, said system comprising: aprocessor; a plurality of central offices coupled to the processor forsending messages to the processor and receiving messages from theprocessor; wherein the processor is programmed to run the following calltracing routine; receiving a message identifying a telephone number tobe traced; transmitting a command to the plurality of central offices toestablish a trace on the identified telephone number; transmitting atrace found message to a display device when any one of the plurality ofcentral offices detects that the identified telephone number has beencalled.
 18. The system according to claim 17 wherein the processor isprogrammed to display a log-on screen on the display, the log-on screenhaving a plurality of fields requiring input data including a field forspecifying the identified telephone number.
 19. The system according toclaim 17 further comprising a pager coupled to the processor wherein theprocessor is further programmed to transmit a trace found message to thepager when any one of the plurality of central offices detects that theidentified telephone number has been called.
 20. The system according toclaim 18 wherein the processor is programmed to cause the display todisplay the trace found message wherein the trace found message includesan identification of a telephone number associated with calling theidentified number.
 21. A call trace process performed by a computernetwork, the process comprising the steps of: a first party identifyinga telephone number to be traced; the first party sending a call traceactivation message to the computer network authorizing the activation ofa call trace, the message also including the telephone number to betraced; the computer network sending a call trace activator message to acentral office coupled to the computer network; the central officesending a call trace found message to the computer network whenever anincoming call is matched to the telephone number to be traced; thecomputer network sending a call trace information message to the firstparty wherein the call trace information message includes anidentification of the telephone number of the incoming call.